When introduced in January, Cal High’s current automated detention system was met with criticism and judgment.
Per the new policies, one unexcused absence or five tardies results in a 30 minute detention, which must be completed on a Monday or Thursday after school.
This system is an improvement in some ways. It regulates bad student behavior more strictly and accommodates more students than before the automated system, when detention was only offered on Mondays.
But more change is still needed.
Detention is typically hosted in the theater, where students are expected to sit quietly without using phones for the required time. Unsurprisingly, instead of repenting for disobeying school rules, students sneak in their phones and are unable to be held accountable for their actions.
Alternatives to detention would have a larger deterrent effect. For example, trash pickup or lunch detention would force students to reduce their leisure and social time, thus discouraging students from cutting or arriving late to class. Similarly, if students are assigned work, they will see detention as more of a consequence and feel more incentivized to improve their attendance record.
But while the current system does not have enough repercussions for habitually tardy students, it is too severe for others. Five tardies can easily be racked up over the course of a semester if a student is late to any class once or twice a month. A more reasonable number of tardies for a detention may be eight or 10.
Under current policies, all students also receive the same detention, whether it was due to tardiness or a more serious offense. Teachers can assign a different amount of time based on the type of misconduct, but what may be better is to provide focused detentions for specific offenses.
Understandably, detention should not be tailored to students who are breaking school rules. But detention alternatives encourage students to improve their behaviors.